This invention relates to vehicle-mounted bicycle carriers, and more particularly to a bicycle carrier which allows the bicycle to be mounted to the carrier in a ride-ready fashion, without the need to remove one of the bicycle wheels.
Various types of vehicle-mounted bicycle carriers are known, which enable a bicycle to be transported on a vehicle. Fork mount bicycle carriers typically have a rear wheel support and require the user to disengage the front wheel of the bicycle using a conventional quick release mechanism associated with the hub of the bicycle wheel. While these types of bicycle carriers provide secure and stable engagement of the bicycle with the carrier, the requirement to remove the front wheel of the bicycle entails time and effort which is inconvenient to the bicycle user. Typical hitch-mounted carriers suspend the bicycle from the top tube of the bicycle frame. While these types of bicycle carriers function satisfactorily for many types of bicycles, many bicycle frames do not have a conventionally configured top tube, and are thus not well suited for use with this type of carrier. While a bicycle beam can be temporarily connected between the seat post and handle bar post to provide a member which can be engaged with this type of carrier in order to suspend the bicycle, this entails use of an additional piece of equipment which must be purchased and be kept at the ready whenever it is desired to transport the bicycle. Further, while this type of carrier allows the bicycle wheels to remain engaged with the bicycle, provisions must be made to minimize swinging or swaying of the bicycles during transport, by stabilizing the bicycles vertically above or below the point of engagement with the rack. Suspension-type carriers of this type have been developed, and an example is illustrated in copending application Ser. No. 09/668,437 filed Sep. 22, 2000, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference. While this type of support arrangement provides stability against swinging movement and also provides a flexible mounting arrangement for various types of bicycle frames, there nonetheless are certain frame designs which simply are not well suited for use with suspension-type carriers. Further, while this system provides a certain amount of stability against swinging movement of the bicycles during transport, it remains possible for certain components of the bicycle, e.g. the front wheels, to come into contact during transport since such components are not stabilized against movement when the bicycle is engaged with the carrier.
Another type of bicycle carrier, which provides ride ready operation, incorporates front and rear wheel trays which receive the front and rear wheels of the bicycle, in combination with a stabilizing member which engages a portion of the bicycle vertically above the wheel trays. Some designs provide such stability by engaging the pedal crank or one of the bicycle frame components, e.g. the down tube or seat tube. Other designs engage an upper area of one of the bicycle tires so as to provide stability when the bicycle is mounted to the carrier. Examples of designs of this type are shown in Reeves U.S. Pat. No. 5,692,659 and Cole U.S. Pat. No. 4,524,893. The '893 patent illustrates a carrier of this type with a pivotable stanchion which is pivoted over the bicycle wheel when both wheels are received within a tray. The stanchion includes a wheel clamping mechanism for maintaining engagement of the wheel with the stanchion. The '659 patent illustrates a carrier with a wheel-receiving well for receiving one of the bicycle wheels, and a frame which supports the other of the bicycle wheels. A wheel-engaging arm is pivotably mounted to the frame. The arm includes an extendible outer portion having a wheel-engaging hook at its outer end, and which is movable inwardly and outwardly relative to an inner portion pivotably interconnected with the frame. A spring biases the outer portion of the arm inwardly, to force the outer hook portion into engagement with the wheel so as to stabilize the bicycle. While the design illustrated in the '893 patent is capable of mounting a bicycle in a ride-ready fashion to a vehicle, it is disadvantageous in that the bicycle is not supported when the bicycle is initially engaged with the carrier. This requires the user to stabilize the bicycle with one hand while using the other hand to pivot the stanchion over the wheel. While the design in the '659 patent is operable to engage the bicycle with the carrier in a ride-ready fashion, it is also somewhat disadvantageous in that the frame structure, which provides initial support for the bicycle when engaged with the carrier, involves heavy tubular members which are specially formed to define the wheel well and the remaining portions of the frame. The rack thus has a significant amount of weight, and has associated costs of manufacture which are significant in view of the amount of material required and the number of forming steps involved in manufacturing the frame. Further, the arm can be engaged with the wheel at any location along the circumference of the wheel. This design thus relies upon the user to properly position the arm relative to the wheel so as to ensure that the arm clamps the wheel into the wheel well. Further, the designs in both the '659 and '893 patents leave the wheel hub exposed, which makes it possible to access the wheel hub and to utilize the quick-release mechanism of the wheel hub to disengage the bicycle frame from the wheel, which can lead to theft of the bicycle when mounted to the carrier.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a ride-ready bicycle carrier capable of quickly and easily mounting various types and sizes of bicycles. It is a further object of the invention to provide such a bicycle carrier which is capable of supporting the bicycle in a hands-free manner when the bicycle is initially engaged with the carrier. A still further object of the invention is to provide such a bicycle carrier which incorporates a stabilizing member configured and arranged to provide positive engagement of the bicycle wheel with the carrier. Yet another object of the invention is to provide such a bicycle carrier which engages one of the bicycle wheels in a similar engagement configuration for all sizes of bicycle wheels. A still further object of the invention is to provide such a bicycle carrier which obstructs access to a quick release mechanism associated with the bicycle wheel, to prevent theft of the bicycle when engaged with the carrier. A still further object of the invention is to provide such a bicycle carrier which is relatively simple in its components and construction, and which provides quick and easy mounting of the bicycle to the carrier while providing positive engagement of the bicycle with the carrier so as to prevent movement of the bicycle during transport.
In accordance with the invention, a vehicle-mounted bicycle carrier includes first and second wheel support sections which engage respective first and second wheels of the bicycle, in combination with a stabilizing member which engages the bicycle at a location above the first and second wheel support sections. At least one of the wheel support sections includes a pair of spaced apart pivotable wheel engagement members. The wheel engagement members define wheel engaging areas adapted to engage a lower part of the wheel in spaced apart locations. The wheel support sections, including the wheel engagement members, are mounted to a pair of structural members associated with the carrier. The structural members may be in the form of opposite end portions of a frame member forming a part of the carrier and mounted to a tubular member adapted to engage a hitch associated with the vehicle. Alternatively, the structural members may be separate from each other, and may be carried by a hitch-type mounting arrangement or by a roof-type mounting arrangement.
Each wheel engagement member preferably has an arcuate wheel engagement surface engageable with the wheel. The stabilizing member is preferably located between the wheel engagement members, and is oriented so as to apply a downward force on the wheel at a location between the wheel engagement members. With this construction, the stabilizing member and the wheel engagement members provide three-point securement of the wheel to the carrier, to stabilize the bicycle when mounted to the carrier. The wheel engagement areas are preferably configured so as to grip the side areas of the wheel when the wheel is initially placed into engagement with the wheel engagement members, to provide a self-supporting feature for allowing the user to operate the stabilizing member without having to stabilize the bicycle with one hand.
The stabilizing member is preferably in the form of a base portion interconnected with a structural member associated with the carrier, and an arm mounted for extension and retraction to the base portion. The arm includes a wheel-engaging area, such as a hook, at its upper end, and a releasable latching mechanism is interposed between the arm and the base portion. The releasable latching mechanism is operable to selectively maintain the wheel engaging area of the arm in engagement with the wheel, and to release engagement between the arm and the base portion for allowing the arm to be extended so as to disengage the wheel and allow the bicycle to be removed from engagement with the carrier. The arm may have a series of teeth formed in one of its surfaces, and the releasable latching mechanism is selectively engageable with the teeth so as to selectively maintain the position of the arm relative to the base portion.
The base portion may be mounted to the structural member of the carrier for pivoting movement between a raised position and a lowered position. When in the raised position, the base portion extends vertically upwardly from the structural member between the wheel engagement members, and the arm is extendible and retractable in a vertical direction relative to the base portion. A blocking mechanism is interposed between the arm and the base portion for preventing the arm from being moved downwardly into engagement with the wheel unless the arm is in its upright position. In this manner, it is ensured that the arm is in a vertical orientation between the wheel engagement members, so as to apply a vertical downward force on the wheel between the engagement members when the arm is retracted to move the wheel engaging area of the arm into engagement with the wheel. When the base portion is in its upright position, an upper end of the base portion is in alignment with and located adjacent the hub of the wheel, due to the centering of the wheel between the pivoting wheel engagement members. The presence of the base portion prevents movement of the quick release lever of the wheel to a release position, so as to ensure that the bicycle cannot be disengaged from the wheel when the bicycle is mounted to the carrier.
The other one of the wheel support sections engages the other bicycle wheel, preferably the rear wheel. A rear wheel retainer is movable into engagement with the rear wheel, for selectively maintaining the rear wheel in engagement with the rear wheel support section. The rear wheel retainer is mounted to a structural member associated with the carrier, by means of a mounting portion and an engagement portion which is rotatably mounted to the mounting portion into and out of engagement with the rear wheel. The mounting portion can be axially moved relative to the structural member so as to enable the rear wheel retainer to be positioned as desired relative to the rear wheel and the rear wheel support section.
The invention further contemplates an improvement in a vehicle-mounted bicycle carrier as well as a method of securing a bicycle to a vehicle, substantially in accordance with the foregoing summary.
Various other features, objects and advantages of the invention will be made apparent from the following description taken together with the drawings.